God continues to bless our group greatly and we are so thankful for it.
Today was an earlier start than normal so that we could get to the Go Ministries facility for some soccer and volleyball activities. I had the blessing of being able to walk back and forth between the soccer field and the volleyball courts and get a glimpse of everyone. I was so proud of all our students. I was impressed by their work ethic combined with their heart and interactions with the Dominican people once again today. We have such a good group of kids that are working hard—not just in their sport, but also in building relationships and doing the hard work of getting to know someone. It was a great way to cap off this part of our week.
From there, we took a two hour drive up to Puerta Plata to our hotel. I’m not sure what the other vehicles were like, but Hof, myself, and the boys have chosen the van with very poor A/C all week. So, our two hour van ride was very hot and very quiet. The boys are worn out from such a long, hard-working week. They just crashed and slept for most of the ride. I also slept for most of the ride :-) As we got closer to the hotel, everyone woke up and you could feel their excitement increasing. They were excited for the A/C.
After getting everyone checked in, everyone headed to their rooms, enjoyed the air conditioning for a bit, then went to get some lunch at the hotel. After that, everyone headed to either the ocean or the pool to swim for a while. As far as I could tell from watching the afternoons activities, there was a pretty solid rotation of events: 1) swim in the ocean or pool, 2) take a break to get a drink, 3) enjoy some time in the air conditioning, 4) repeat steps one through three. They were all having a great time hanging out with each other and resting and relaxing after a long, busy week.
After supper, we gathered for our evening de-brief. Really, this is our final de-brief of the week because Sunday night is the community worship service. So, Jon asked everyone in the group to come up with one word that described how God had been at work in their life this week. I heard words like: intentional, convicted, community/fellowship, omnipresent, powerful, beautiful, similarities, protected, amazing (and there were more). Then we took the opportunity to have some of the students share why they picked the word they picked. It really was powerful to hear the students explain the way in which God had been working in their lives this week. The word intentional came up a lot because the focus of the week to learn how to be intentional in the placed God has given you—intentionally being an everyday missionary. The word omnipresent came up because a student was struck by the fact that God is present here in the same way that He is present in Waupun. The word similarity came up because students realized how similar we all are, even though we live in different situations and places—we’re all children of God. The word community came up because many students were struck by the power of community in the Dominican Republic and the way it shaped the community in our group. I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at that.
If you have a student on this trip, I would encourage you to ask them what their word was and why they chose it. Take the opportunity to hear directly from their lips how God was at work in their life this week. It will be good for both of you :-)
God has truly been at work in the lives of our students this week AND in the lives of the people we’ve been working with. We’ve heard it over and over and over again. It’s amazing the ways God can work when we pray and step out in faith—and when we step out of our comfort zones.
Like I mentioned earlier, tomorrow night is the community worship service to wrap up, celebrate, and praise God for the week. Pray that God would bring many people from the community to this service and that He would be at work in their hearts preparing them to hear the gospel, repent, and believe. Pray that God would be working in the hearts of those leading the service—giving them the words and peace and power to preach and lead well. Pray for our students as they participate in the worship service and reconnect with many of the children they’ve been interacting with all week—that God would give them words and peace and power to speak the gospel to these children. Pray also that God would continue to work in the lives of every member of our group.
Then, also pray for a good night sleep for everyone. It will be a short night. It looks like we’ll be leaving for the airport around 3:30 or 4 am. So, we’ll be praying for short, deep sleep…lol.
Thanks again for all of your prayers and support throughout this trip. We could feel it every day. I could see it in the lives of everyone in this group all week long. Praise God.
Jason Ruis